Man served with warrant escapes Annapolis court after tazing

Kevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun

A 31-year-old Beltsville man is facing new charges of assault and resisting arrest after fleeing an Annapolis court room where he had been served with an arrest warrant Thursday, according to the Anne Arundel County Sheriff's Office.

Pierre Jourdain Smith II allegedly "body slammed" a sheriff's deputy at the exit of the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court and was tazed by another deputy as he ran from the scene in downtown Annapolis, said Deputy Harry Neisser, a sheriff's spokesman.

"He just decided that he didn't want any more," Neisser said.

Smith, who was appearing in court on a violation of probation for a prior drug charge, was located about 20 minutes later in bushes outside a nearby preschool, on Duke of Glouchester Street, Neisser said.

When he was arrested, one prong of the tazer that was fired at him was recovered from his buttocks, Neisser said.

Smith was being served with a Montgomery County warrant related to outstanding traffic violations, Neisser said. Court records show there is also an outstanding warrant for Smith's arrest in Montgomery County on drug charges.

The sheriff's deputy that Smith slammed into suffered a shoulder injury and was transported to a nearby hospital before being released, Neisser said. No one else was injured.

Court records show Smith, who previously served prison time on drug and assault charges in Montgomery County, was released from commitment on the new charges on Friday.